Hosea 4

English Standard Version

The Lord Accuses Israel

4 ^(A)Hear the word of the Lord, O children of Israel,
    for ^(B)the Lord has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land.
There is no faithfulness or steadfast love,
    and ^(C)no knowledge of God in the land;
²^(D)there is swearing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery;
    they break all bounds, and ^(E)bloodshed follows bloodshed.
³Therefore ^(F)the land mourns,
    and all who dwell in it languish,
^(G)and also the beasts of the field
    and the birds of the heavens,
    ^(H)and even the fish of the sea are taken away.

⁴^(I)Yet let no one contend,
    and let none accuse,
    for with you is ^(J)my contention, O priest.^[a]
⁵You shall stumble by day;
    the prophet also shall stumble with you by night;
    and I will destroy ^(K)your mother.
⁶My people are destroyed ^(L)for lack of knowledge;
    ^(M)because you have rejected knowledge,
    I reject you ^(N)from being a priest to me.
And since you have forgotten the law of your God,
    ^(O)I also will forget your children.

⁷^(P)The more they increased,
    the more they sinned against me;
    ^(Q)I will change their glory into shame.
⁸^(R)They feed on the sin^[b] of my people;
    they are greedy for their iniquity.
⁹^(S)And it shall be like people, like priest;
    I will punish them for their ways
    and repay them for their deeds.
¹⁰^(T)They shall eat, but not be satisfied;
    they shall play the whore, but not multiply,
because they have forsaken the Lord
    to cherish ¹¹whoredom, wine, and new wine,
    which ^(U)take away the understanding.
¹²My people ^(V)inquire of a piece of wood,
    and their walking staff gives them oracles.
For ^(W)a spirit of whoredom has led them astray,
    and they have left their God to play the whore.
¹³^(X)They sacrifice on the tops of the mountains
    and burn offerings on the hills,
^(Y)under oak, poplar, and terebinth,
    because their shade is good.
Therefore your daughters play the whore,
    and your brides commit adultery.
¹⁴I will not punish your daughters when they play the whore,
    nor your brides when they commit adultery;
for ^(Z)the men themselves go aside with prostitutes
    and sacrifice with ^(AA)cult prostitutes,
and a people ^(AB)without understanding shall come to ruin.

¹⁵Though you play the whore, O ^(AC)Israel,
    let not ^(AD)Judah become guilty.
^(AE)Enter not into ^(AF)Gilgal,
    nor go up to ^(AG)Beth-aven,
    and swear not, “As the Lord lives.”
¹⁶Like a stubborn heifer,
    Israel is stubborn;
can the Lord now feed them
    like a lamb in a broad pasture?

¹⁷^(AH)Ephraim is joined to idols;
    ^(AI)leave him alone.
¹⁸When their drink is gone, they give themselves to whoring;
    ^(AJ)their rulers^[c] dearly love shame.
¹⁹^(AK)A wind has wrapped them^[d] in its wings,
    and they shall ^(AL)be ashamed because of their sacrifices.